Email: help@croftglasgow.org www.croftglasgow.org Specialist Help for Visitors
The Croft supports visitors through referrals to prison staff and a range of organisations: Family Contact Officers are prison officers who work with families and prisoners to help the family to keep in touch. They also facilitate the dedicated Childrens Visits at Barlinnie. Contact: 0141 770 2037 (answer machine). Families Outside work across Scotland, supporting families with a loved one in prison. They have a Freephone helpline which is available from Monday Friday 9am-5pm: 0800 254 0088. Families Outside Family Support Workers can visit families at home or nearby to provide additional support. www.familiesoutside.org.uk Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) Parkhead have a dedicated Prisoners Families Adviser at HMP Barlinnie who can help with financial issues such as debt and money advice. CAB staff are available in the public areas of the prison from Tuesday Thursday. Other Organisations The Croft also works with specialist organisations such as those working with families with young children; young carers and counselling organisations. As it can be very difficult to have someone in prison, we work to help organisations to better understand and support people with a loved one in prison.
Email: help@croftglasgow.org www.croftglasgow.org Activities and Help for Prisoners
Facilities that can be available for prisoners include: education; gym; Lifelink one-toone counselling; Homeless Casework Team; chaplaincy; and Job Centre plus. Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) Parkhead has a member of staff who works with prisoners in HMP Barlinnie. They can help with financial issues that the person in prison is experiencing, for example debt, housing and money advice. CAB are available at the Link Centre from CAB staff are available at the Link Centre on certain days. Prisoners can request a referral through the Halls Staff. year olds with a sentence shorter than 4 years. They provide support for up to a year, through oneto-one mentoring, inside and outside of the prison and are available across Scotland. Throughcare Support: A dedicated team of prison officers at HMP Barlinnie. They support prisoners aged over 25 as they return to the community, usually from 6 weeks prior to release and in the community after release. Currently, they support prisoners who are returning to live in Glasgow. New Routes: can provide support on issues such as housing, mental health, addictions and training / employment for 18-25
Email: help@croftglasgow.org www.croftglasgow.org How to keep in contact with someone Scottish Prison Service HQ, Communications Branch, Room G20, Calton House, 5 Redheughs Rigg, Edinburgh WH1 9HW Trying to Contact a Prisoner
Finding Out Which Prison Someone is In: People often get in touch with us, trying to find out which prison someone is in. There are 2 ways to do this: Letter: Write a letter addressed to the person in a sealed envelope, including your address and contact number if you want them to be able to contact you. Place this envelope in another envelope with a cover letter for SPS (Scottish Prison Service) letting them know that you are trying to locate which prison the person is in include their full name and date of birth if you can. Send the letter to: Scottish Prison Service HQ, Communications Branch, Room G20, Calton House, 5 Redheughs Rigg, Edinburgh WH1 9HW. SPS HQ will then look up their systems and if they find the person will send them your letter. Email: gaolinfo@sps.pnn. gov.uk including the information above. We ve never been involved with this sort of thing before, prisons, police, no-one in the family s ever been in trouble before
Email: help@croftglasgow.org www.croftglasgow.org Contacting Someone in HMP Barlinnie
Letters: you can post a letter to someone at Barlinnie, using the following address: 81 Lee Avenue Riddrie Glasgow G33 2QX You should include their name and Cell Location, if you don t have the prisoner s Cell Location, you can try posting the letter with their Date of Birth. Email a Prisoner: this is a UK-wide system for families and professionals to get in touch with someone in prison. You will need to know the person s Prisoner Number and which prison they are in. The family member or professional sets up an account on www.emailaprisoner.com and can then send emails at a cost of 40p per message. The messages are then printed and given to the prisoner with the regular post. If the account is set up to allow it, the prisoner can then reply to the email for 25p (charged to the person who set up the account). Thanks very much for your help. I know I can trust the people at the Croft. I know you re only a phone call away.
Email: help@croftglasgow.org www.croftglasgow.org Bringing or Sending Items to the Prison
Visitors can pay money in at the Cash Desk in the entrance area for prisoners at any Scottish prison. You can also post a cheque, payable to Scottish Prison Service with the person s name and Prisoner Number on the back. If the person you are visiting would like clothes, there is a procedure for bringing these in using a Proform : > Prisoner requests a Proform from Halls Staff > Prisoner completes Proform, noting which clothes they would like to have brought in > Prisoner gives completed Proform to Halls Staff > Halls Staff post completed Proform to you > You bring the Proform and the clothes listed on it to the prison to hand in > Staff at the Visitors Booking Desk receive the clothes and give you a receipt > Clothes are distributed to the prisoner in the Halls For all other items such as writing paperand hobby items, the prisoner orders these. Prison staff will only take items exactly as they are listed on the Proform and the completed Proform must be handed in with the items. If you aren t visiting soon or regularly, you can also post items to the prison with the Proform; you will need to pay postage.
Email: help@croftglasgow.org www.croftglasgow.org Booking a Visit
Visits are booked in a different way, depending on whether the person is on Remand or has been Convicted. The prisoner provides a list of people they would like to have visit them and only people on this list are able to visit. Children s Visits are covered in a separate section. Remand Visits: Visitors book Remand visits themselves and are able to visit 5 or 6 times per week. A monthly timetable, which shows when Remand visits are on is available from the prison and on the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) website http://www.sps.gov.uk/ Corporate/Prisons/Barlinnie/ HMP-Barlinnie.aspx. Visitors can choose which visits they would like and phone the prison Remand Booking Line: 0141 770 2109 to book them. Currently, visitors can book visits up to a week in advance. Convicted Visits: Prisoners book visits if they have been convicted; they are able to have 4 visits per month. Once they have booked the visit, a Visits Order is sent out to the visitor by post and should then be brought to the prison at the visit. Double Visits: Visitors who travel more than 50 miles to get to the prison, may be entitled to have two visits in one day. The visitors or the prisoner should contact the Family Contact Officers for more information. Identification Requirements: SPS requires visitors to provide photographic ID and proof of address when they visit more information on the SPS website.
Email: help@croftglasgow.org www.croftglasgow.org Coming for a Visit: Travel and Transport
How to Get to Barlinnie HMP Barlinnie is in Riddrie North East Glasgow, > Public transport: First Bus 38 / 38A / 38C. There are stops on Union Street near Central Station and outside Queen Street station. Get off at Riddrie Library on Cumbernauld Road, the prison is a 5-10 minute walk away. > By car: off the M8 at Junction 12, there is some parking with mobility spaces. Local Facilities Shops: there are local shops including a newsagents; sandwich shop and takeaways at the end of the driveway to Barlinnie. If you are coming by public transport, you will pass the shops on the way to the prison. Library: Riddrie Library is near the bus stop. There is a comfortable seating area and a timetable of children s activities http:// www.glasgowlife.org.uk/ libraries/your-local-library/ riddrie-library/pages/home. aspx for more information. Travel Expenses Visitors who are close relatives of the prisoner and on certain benefits may be entitled to travel expenses for 2 visits per month. > You can apply for travel expenses online here: www.gov.uk/help-withprison-visit > You also need to ask prison staff to stamp a Confirmation of Visits Form on the way out of your visit > If you have any problems, please contact Croft staff for help
Email: help@croftglasgow.org www.croftglasgow.org Coming for a Visit: Prison Procedures
What to Bring When you come to the prison, you will be asked to put most of your belongings, including coats in a locker which is a refundable 1. You can also bring coins up to 10 value to use for refreshments in the Visit Room. If you wish to bring anything else for the prisoner please see the section on Bringing or Sending Items to the Prison Layout of the Atrium and Facilities at the Prison When you get to the prison, you will enter via the glass Atrium. This is the main entrance for all visitors and staff. In the Atrium is the Family Services Room, staffed by the Croft and the glass Pod, a meeting room for appointments with support organisations Booking in for a Visit Visitors should book in with prison staff at the Visits Booking Desk. Officers there will check ID and give you a table number, which will be called out later in the Waiting Area. Visitors can then move to the Waiting Area. The Waiting Area The prison Waiting Area has toilets, baby changing facilities and a range of information leaflets and books and colouring-in for children. Just before the visit starts, prison staff will call out table numbers and show you up to he visit. Searches Visitors aged 16 and over are given a pat down search as they go in to the Visits Room. There is a male and a female officer to search male and female visitors respectively. For some visits, there are also sniffer dogs checking people. Toybox / Playstation In the main Visits Room, there is a play area Playstation, run by the charity Toybox. Playstation has a range of toys and games and is supervised by staff and volunteers. Things to consider when coming for a visit
Email: help@croftglasgow.org www.croftglasgow.org Visiting with Children
Child Visits Since December 2013, HMP Barlinnie has had a dedicated Children s Visits area. The room has been decorated and set up to be more child friendly. Unlike during other visits, prisoners are able to play and interact with their children and on some Children s Visits, play workers are available to support this. Prisoners book the Children s Visits themselves, by contacting the Family Contact Team via their Halls Staff. I feel like I can speak to my dad about things that are worrying me like school and friends because the visit is more private. My wee one really loves playing with her dad in the soft play and having him read her stories.
Email: help@croftglasgow.org www.croftglasgow.org I will always remember you. You helped me from my very first visit. What do Visitors Say about Visiting the Prison?
Thanks for talking to me, I ve no one else. We left the house before 9am to drive here and we ll not be back until after 3, it s exhausting. No-one else in the family will visit, but in the end of the day he s my son and I have to come I m so glad you are here at the prison, I was going out of my mind with worry. I didn t know which way to turn. I have had contact with Citizens Advice Bureau and feel that something can be done. Thank you very much. The Croft website was really helpful and easy to use I don t know what I would ve done without you. I wasn t in a good place. You made me feel I had somewhere to go and people would listen and help.